Aerospace Payload Projects

Overview

In partnership with Higher Orbits, I transformed winning student experiment concepts into flight-ready aerospace payloads that met rigorous industry standards. Working from student designs, I engineered, built, and integrated payloads for actual rocket and high-altitude missions—bridging student creativity with professional aerospace engineering practice.

Each project began with a student’s imaginative concept submitted through Higher Orbits competitions. I translated these ideas into functional payloads—designing mechanical systems, power and telemetry architectures, and flight enclosures that met each provider’s requirements for mass, safety, and reliability. The resulting payloads were not just prototypes but fully qualified for launch aboard commercial and educational flight vehicles.

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Highlighted Missions

Blue Origin — New Shepard NS-12

Based on a student’s concept to create art in space, I engineered a payload capable of autonomously painting in microgravity at the rocket’s apex—most likely the first robotic art ever created in space. The design met Blue Origin’s strict payload integration and safety requirements and successfully operated during suborbital flight.

Sugar House Rocket Payloads

Translated student experiment ideas into compact payloads for amateur high-G launches, focusing on structural durability, sensor integration, and data recovery.

Neptune One High-Altitude Mission

Developed a student-designed science payload that flew aboard Space Perspective’s Neptune One capsule, capturing environmental data from the stratosphere while meeting high-altitude flight standards.

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Impact

These missions exemplify the fusion of education, engineering, and creativity—where student imagination met real aerospace execution. By turning student concepts into launch-qualified hardware, I demonstrated how authentic, mentorship-driven collaboration can transform classroom innovation into genuine contributions to space exploration.